The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) has issued a Flooding Advisory in Cayo District and the Belize River Valley. Residents living in these flood prone areas are strongly encouraged to seek safety and move to higher ground. U.S. citizens should avoid flood-prone areas. Areas of concern are:

Road conditions: Spanish Lookout via Baking Pot Ferry and Iguana Creek Bridge are impassable at this time. The access route through Bullet Tree Falls village via the Bullet Tree Bridge is impassable. The Roaring Creek Bridge remains open. The wooden bridge in San Ignacio across the Macal River is closed.

For local updates, please visit http://site.nemo.org.bz/ or call the National Emergency Management Organization at 501-822-2054/hotline 936.

For any emergencies involving U.S. citizens, please contact the American Citizens Services (ACS) Unit in the U.S. Embassy at ACSBelize@state.gov or by calling 501-822-4011.

Valley, Get Ready!

Tonight, life in Belize has mostly returned to normal, but the country is still recovering from Hurricane Earl - which affected the Belize, Cayo, Orange Walk and Stann Creek Districts as well as San Pedro and Caye Caulker.

And the effects of the storm are still with us. All those waters that caused the Macal River to run over its banks last week Thursday, are now settling into the Belize River valley. The Crooked Tree Lagoon is a major part of the catchment for these floodwaters; when that runs over, it floods the Belize River Valley. Today, we asked area representative and NEMO minister Edmond Castro if the valley will see severe flooding:...

Hon. Edmond Castro, NEMO Minister"It will be extremely difficult to tell people that's not a possibility. Everything is a possibility. But at the rate that the river is rising, I believe the extreme flooding condition in our communities along the river bank from the Cayo District unto through the Belize River Valley area reduced significantly. Reason I am saying this is that Friday, the speed of the water coming through Bermudian Landing area and the villages on the western portion, Cayo District I should say, it was coming down rather fast, but because the basin in our area, the Crooked Tree Lagoon - that basin and also the other caption area which is the Mexico lagoon was below the water table. So even if the water come down and the Belize River cannot handle it, there are still space - the cup is still half empty in those caption areas, so I don't think that we will see the type of flooding that we had experience in the past flood times. However, all the way up to Flowers Bank, the river is at the top gallon level, both the channel of the river to Belize River taking out the water to the sea is still adequate enough for that volume of water."

Castro tells us that the expectation, at this time, is that only those residents who live directly beside the river may experience some temporary flooding. Of course, there is no guarantee that the situation will play out as expected - so, residents in the River Valley area still need to be vigilant as the flood waters pass through their area.